The Battle of Aguere, or Battle of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, was fought between forces of the Crown of Castile, led by the Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo, and the natives of Tenerife, called Guanches. The battle took place on 14-15 November 1494.
Statue of Bencomo at Candelaria, Tenerife.
Alonso Fernández de Lugo was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496) for the Castilian Crown; they were the last of the Canary Islands to be conquered by Europeans. He was also the founder of the towns of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Santa Cruz de La Palma. One biographer has written that his personality was a “terrible mixture of cruelty and ambition or greed, on one part, and on the other a great capacity and sense for imposing order and government on conquered lands,” a trait found in the conquistadors of the New World.
The native kings of Tenerife surrender to Alonso Fernández de Lugo, 25 July 1496.
Church of Santo Domingo, Santa Cruz de la Palma. Built on foundations of hermitage of San Miguel (Saint Michael) founded by Fernández de Lugo on 14 May 1506. Saint Michael is the patron saint of Flanders, where many colonists in La Palma originated.
Fernández de Lugo presenting the captured native kings of Tenerife to Ferdinand and Isabella
Commemorative plaque in the Cathedral of La Laguna in Tenerife, where the mortal remains of Fernández de Lugo.